£61m investment in employer led projects to boost enterprise, jobs and growth

24 Nov 2011

Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, said:

“Over the past two decades governments of all hues have driven reform and expansion of the country's vocational skills system, with some notable successes.  But the fact is we've become less competitive globally on skills, and for many employers the 'system' is just too complex.

“The answer lies in moving away from grant funding to investing in employer led skills solutions, building the capacity and capability for employers to take ownership of the skills agenda.  By working within their supply chains, through business clusters, and with unions, colleges and training providers they can develop the skills they need.  That is what this funding is intended to promote.

“It comes at a critical time for the UK economy and will place skills firmly within the growth agenda - giving employers greater ownership of skills, as a vital source of competitive advantage.”

Skills Minister John Hayes added

"We're putting power back into the hands of businesses so we can build a skills system that will drive an increasingly dynamic economy. With the opening of round two of the Growth and Innovation Fund, the announcement of the Employer Ownership pilot and the announcement of successful Employer Investment Fund projects, there is now up to £370 million of funding devoted to support employer led skills solutions. This will secure greater commitment from employers to invest in skills and support business to achieve their growth potential."

The UK Commission received 109 proposals into the fund totalling over £119m.  Following a rigorous assessment process, Commissioners chose 63 of the best solutions with the greatest potential to drive growth and employer investment in skills. 

The investments will be across a range of sectors including manufacturing which will receive almost £15m; the service sector which will receive almost £16m and the creative and digital sector which will receive over £13m.  The funding will start in April 2012 and last until March 2014.

As a direct result of being able to demonstrate strong employer leadership and how to address the skills issues constraining the growth of their sector, the most successful SSCs have secured investment levels more than twice that which would have been anticipated through traditional grant funding.

For those who have not been successful,  transitional arrangements will be put in place to ensure employers in those sectors are not disadvantaged.

A list of the investment each SSC will receive is below.

ends

Notes to editors:

1. The Employer Investment Fund Phase 2 Prospectus was launched on 30 June 2011.  The closing date for applications was 7 September 2011.

2. It is only open to licensed UK Sector Skills Councils (SSCs).  SSCs are licensed by government to be independent, employer-led, UK–wide organisations.  The SSCs and the UK Commission are committed to working in partnership across the four nations to create the conditions for increased employer investment in skills which will drive enterprise and create jobs and sustainable economic growth.

3. It will replace SSC strategic (grant) funding from April 2012 onwards

4. It can fund up to two years of activity – 2012/13 and 2013/14

5. EIF is one of two strands of investment being administered by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills – the other being the Growth and Innovation Fund.

6. Each SSC can be funded up to £3m per annum (although this could be reviewed upwards if the SSC is leading on any collaborative bids with other SSCs)

7. All investment decisions were made by the UK Commission’s Commissioners: a group of high-profile leaders from large, small and medium enterprises from the public, private and voluntary sectors. All are committed to investing in the skills of people to drive enterprise, jobs and growth.

SSC	Sector	Government offer of investment through the Employer Investment Fund - Phase 2
Asset Skills	Property, Housing, Cleaning Services, Facilities Management and Parking	£2,025,992
Cogent	Chemical and Pharmaceutical, Oil, Gas, Nuclear, Petroleum and Polymers, Life Sciences	£4,817,047
ConstructionSkills	Construction	£1,338,165
Creative & Cultural Skills	Craft, Cultural Heritage, Design, Literature, Music, Performing Arts and Visual Arts	£3,064,716
Energy and Utility Skills	Energy, Waste and Utilities	£3,471,884
e-skills UK	IT and Telecoms	£4,200,000
Financial Skills Partnership	Finance, Accountancy and Financial Services	£1,762,637
Improve	Food and Drinks Manufacturing and Processing	£1,636,210
Institute of the Motor Industry	Retail Motor Industry	£3,150,535
Lantra	Environmental and Land-based	£2,847,308
People 1st / GoSkills	Hospitality, Leisure, Passenger Transport, Travel and Tourism	£6,789,864
SEMTA	Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies	£5,000,000
Skills for Care and Development	Social Care, Children, Early Years and Young People's Workforces in the UK	£2,198,000
Skills for Health	UK Health	£3,028,000
Skills for Justice	Policing & Law Enforcement, Youth Justice, Custodial Care, Community Justice, Courts Service, Prosecution Services, Forensic Science, Fire Rescue Services and Legal Services	£4,882,426
Skills for Logistics	Freight Logistics and Wholesaling Industry	£3,955,366
SkillsActive	Sport and Recreation, Health and Fitness, Outdoors, Playwork and Caravanning Industry	£893,672
Skillset	TV, Film, Radio, Interactive Media, Advertising, Animation, Computer Games, Facilities, Photo Imaging, Publishing, Fashion and Textiles	£6,000,000
Total		£61,061,824

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